Posted by: RottingCorpse

Trump sends missiles to Syria and badmouths Russia on TV then privately calls Putin and says there will be no sanctions against Russia totally going against UN. Ambassador Nikki Haley's public pronouncement that Russia will be sanctioned.

Tell me, would Jon Snow be so cravenly obvious?

Meanwhile in the B-Story, Stormy Daniels is suing Trump for defamation and Cohen is about to sing like a bird. I figure it's all leading up to the big space battle in the season finale with Sean Hannity sacrificing himself to push Stormy's mystery attacker (special gust star Tom Brady!) out the air lock.

Posted by: RottingCorpse

Because...is it really "so obvious," RC? Lester Holt would like you to think so, but where's the hard evidence? It remains suspected. A now year long investigation points to some people in Trumplandia having corporate ties with Russia, but the same could be said for about 90% of the 1% during every administration since Putin took power because Russia is a cash cow on the oligarch level.

...

Russia? Putin? Come on, RC. That's the old way. They're relics from more than a decade ago. There are no borders now. There are no countries and there are no rivals. On the news every night, we see the CA admission, we hear from companies like CA that do exactly what they did and outline it for us step by step. Yet we still scream Russia! Why? Because it's easy. Because Russia was a bogeyman (and nothing more) for two generations. Because Putin likes to stoke that image because it IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS for Russia and the US to be at odds. It always has been a business decision. You can't call Google, Facebook, Amazon, and all of them out. Why? Well, simple. Because they actually own and control the news outlets.

1.) Evidence that Trump was in bed financially (and prostitutionally, if I can coin a word) with the Russians. Putin's old KGB buddies have all sorts of nasty sex shit to blackmail Trump with. (Including trips on Jeffery Epstein's "Lolita Express." Our girl Stormy Daniels is only the tip of the iceberg on Trump as far as deviant perversity goes. Personally, I give two shits if he likes to be fucked with a strap-on while sucking milk out of a whore's ass, and the rest of America probably doesn't care either. To me, the sex shit is the distraction. Trump wants Stormy Daniels all over the news because that's far sexier and less damning than Russia.)

Trump's Russia involvement is deep and well-documeted, but basically boils down to the fact that he's bankrupted himself so many times that the Russian mob were the only ones willing to loan him any money. The problem became when he decided to run for public office for a "cold" enemy of that particular state. He was deep in the Russian oligarch's pocket long before he considered running for office.

2.) Evidence of election tampering by Russians. This is a large part of what Mueller is collecting evidence on. The tech/bot part of it aside for a second, Russia's original plan was to neuter a Clinton administration by having all this uncertainty shadow her presidency (which it would have). That Trump actually won was a back-handed win because the trail of breadcrumbs of their involvement was purposely left so wide. But their guy won.

*Their guy who they probably blackmailed into running because of all the shit they have on him won the election.*

The U.S. presidency is operating under Putin's influence. Indirectly probably, but the Russians control the executive branch because Trump lives in fear of them. Think of the shit they could leak to Mueller that proves without a doubt that Trump has committed treason. Fucking treason. Per hypernormalizaion, Putin's goal is destabilization. It's to weaken U.S. power and influence, particularly in Europe. He's succeeding wildly.

Now... Let's look at the evidence we actually have regarding election tampering. Namely, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. CA is ON CAMERA admitting that they won the election and claiming they can account for tens of millions of votes. And the LEGION of similar corporations are all cheerfully talking to the media about how, yes, that's exactly what they do: Win elections by hijacking our social media. And, yes, every social media outlet has stood by and let this happen because they're getting a boatload of money. On the block is Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. And it looks like it's going to snowball into congressional hearings. In fact, it's so bad, and so perverse, that stock market wonks are worried this will shatter the tech bubble and spiral us into a downturn.

If we actually sit down and rationally process the news, here's what I suggest is happening: A billionaire showman who is a member of an oligarchical billionaire showman club spread lots of money around to the places he knew it would count: The people who deliver instant content to the devices we walk around all day staring at. That content is unregulated and unmonitored and exists solely at the whim of for-profit corporations run by members of that same billionaire showman club. Social media is designed to control us and inform on us. We do it willingly! In the last election, techniques to manipulate, control, and outright hijack our identities were finally perfected. And that's who stole the election. Zuckerberg et. al.

We don't blame them because we've perversely been convinced that these corporations -- Google, Apple, Facebook, etc. -- are working for the public good. This is the fundamental backbone of their image. Your Google Life is generally free. Look at all the great things they did and are doing. A great place to work. How exciting to get Amazon HQ2 in our town. And on and on and on. They've painted themselves as the benefactors of Humanity much like the Church did in the middle ages.

Meanwhile, they're harvesting everything and have now become powerful enough to shape politics and the world.

I don't doubt this is occurring and the Cambridge Analytica shit is fascinating beyond belief. Yet I also think that big business always has more to gain by maintaining the status quo. The technology shifts, but the goal is the same, consolidate political power as a means to consolidate financial control. Why make us doubt these systems (Google, Facebook, etc.) that we've had no reason to doubt until now? Why even let the Russians do this even as a scapegoat to hide the sinister shit they're doing? Why not keep the illusion of a socially responsible system?

Posted by: nacho

I guess my disconnect here is that the Russian influence seems so, so obvious. Yet everyone is burying their head in the sand... or doesn't care. Trump is o utterly incompetent and corrupt. I'm just shocked that we're letting the system break down for him.

During the Bush II years, it all seemed more sinister and under the cover of night. We were fed plausible lies to keep the sheep in line while the dirty deeds were done. This just seems so preventable.

Here's something no one seems to be thinking about, even though it's headline news: What if "Russian influence on the election" is actually the hypernormalization and there's something else going on? Because...is it really "so obvious," RC? Lester Holt would like you to think so, but where's the hard evidence? It remains suspected. A now year long investigation points to some people in Trumplandia having corporate ties with Russia, but the same could be said for about 90% of the 1% during every administration since Putin took power because Russia is a cash cow on the oligarch level. Hell, Obama stood idly by while Russia literally attacked eastern Europe and Russian paramilitary troops attacked US bases in Syria.

Now... Let's look at the evidence we actually have regarding election tampering. Namely, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. CA is ON CAMERA admitting that they won the election and claiming they can account for tens of millions of votes. And the LEGION of similar corporations are all cheerfully talking to the media about how, yes, that's exactly what they do: Win elections by hijacking our social media. And, yes, every social media outlet has stood by and let this happen because they're getting a boatload of money. On the block is Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. And it looks like it's going to snowball into congressional hearings. In fact, it's so bad, and so perverse, that stock market wonks are worried this will shatter the tech bubble and spiral us into a downturn.

If we actually sit down and rationally process the news, here's what I suggest is happening: A billionaire showman who is a member of an oligarchical billionaire showman club spread lots of money around to the places he knew it would count: The people who deliver instant content to the devices we walk around all day staring at. That content is unregulated and unmonitored and exists solely at the whim of for-profit corporations run by members of that same billionaire showman club. Social media is designed to control us and inform on us. We do it willingly! In the last election, techniques to manipulate, control, and outright hijack our identities were finally perfected. And that's who stole the election. Zuckerberg et. al.

We don't blame them because we've perversely been convinced that these corporations -- Google, Apple, Facebook, etc. -- are working for the public good. This is the fundamental backbone of their image. Your Google Life is generally free. Look at all the great things they did and are doing. A great place to work. How exciting to get Amazon HQ2 in our town. And on and on and on. They've painted themselves as the benefactors of Humanity much like the Church did in the middle ages.

Meanwhile, they're harvesting everything and have now become powerful enough to shape politics and the world.

Russia? Putin? Come on, RC. That's the old way. They're relics from more than a decade ago. There are no borders now. There are no countries and there are no rivals. On the news every night, we see the CA admission, we hear from companies like CA that do exactly what they did and outline it for us step by step. Yet we still scream Russia! Why? Because it's easy. Because Russia was a bogeyman (and nothing more) for two generations. Because Putin likes to stoke that image because it IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS for Russia and the US to be at odds. It always has been a business decision. You can't call Google, Facebook, Amazon, and all of them out. Why? Well, simple. Because they actually own and control the news outlets.

The system is breaking down for Trump, the system just doesn't work anymore because it hasn't changed since 1865.

Posted by: RottingCorpse

I guess my disconnect here is that the Russian influence seems so, so obvious. Yet everyone is burying their head in the sand... or doesn't care. Trump is o utterly incompetent and corrupt. I'm just shocked that we're letting the system break down for him.

During the Bush II years, it all seemed more sinister and under the cover of night. We were fed plausible lies to keep the sheep in line while the dirty deeds were done. This just seems so preventable.

Posted by: nacho

So... these are all laws and regulations passed and they're wonderful, yes. But I'm thinking more about the history of kings, despots, Star Wars villains, and executives harnessing power for their own selfish needs, while the legislature lets it happen thinking they'll benefit before said legislature is disbanded.

(The Marshall Plan is your one example that sort of false under what I'm saying.)

Past legislatures aside, do you think *this* one is going to do the right thing? And by "right thing," I mean stand up to trump and support the Russia investigation?

Well, many of those kings, despots, etc. were also the legislature! Between about 44 BC and about 1650 AD, the human race did not have a government that had a (empowered) separate legislative body.

Our current legislature is suffering from what happened to the one in the 50's-40's BC, thus back round we go to the Roman Republic conversation.

Posted by: RottingCorpse

So... these are all laws and regulations passed and they're wonderful, yes. But I'm thinking more about the history of kings, despots, Star Wars villains, and executives harnessing power for their own selfish needs, while the legislature lets it happen thinking they'll benefit before said legislature is disbanded.

(The Marshall Plan is your one example that sort of false under what I'm saying.)

Past legislatures aside, do you think *this* one is going to do the right thing? And by "right thing," I mean stand up to trump and support the Russia investigation?